Hello, The dam on my 4 acre pond was completed last August. Due to the drought here in west-central Indiana it did not fill till early this year when all the ice melted and we had a ton of rain. Because of the drought my grass seed didn't grow and I am just now fixing the erosion and reseeding. During that process I have recently discovered a wet spot about 4' by 4' at the base of the dam that won't dry and in fact there is a little muddy surface water showing (a little of the water has a funky orange color to it). It's not flowing on down from that spot on the surface. The pond has only went down about 4-6 inches from the pipe during this year's drought, so I think it seems to be holding steady. My contractor (also neighbor) now says that it's a "spring". I don't recall a spring being there before. The worst part about this is the wet spot is in the "emergency" spillway area, so I am concerned it won't hold real well if we have get a massive rain that my pipe can't handle. Since my pond is holding level real well despite this year's drought, is this someting I should be worried about? Any suggestions? I am hoping that once I have it reseeded and get the grass growing it will dry up a bit. Thanks.

If it dries up, great! If it doesn't, the water level keeps dropping and it's below the water level in the pond, keep a close eye on it. If it gets bigger, and the pond keeps dropping, I'd consider draining the pond below that level, digging it out and compacting clay into that area. Beter to do it now when the fish are still young and small rather than in a few years when the fish are bigger and the plants/grass are established around the pond.